


Cats of a Kind

by MusicPrincess655



Series: Soulmate AU [2]
Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Childhood Friends, Fluff, Getting Together, M/M, Soulmate-Identifying Marks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-21
Updated: 2016-05-21
Packaged: 2018-06-09 21:35:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,925
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6924319
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MusicPrincess655/pseuds/MusicPrincess655
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kenma may be sure the mark on his hip is for Kuro, but he's not sure that means they should be together.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Cats of a Kind

**Author's Note:**

> So I wrote this in honor of reaching 200 followers (I'm as shocked as you) and as a sequel to The Lion and the House Cat. I have some vague plans of expanding this series for more couples (really only Kagehina and Iwaoi right now) so stay tuned for that.

Kozume Kenma had a soulmate mark on his left hip, a black cat with spiky hair. He knew exactly who the mark represented. He wasn’t going to do anything about it. 

Kuro lived down the street and dragged Kenma outside all the time to practice volleyball. Between the cat-like grin and the spiky black bed head, it was likely that Kuro was the spiky haired cat on Kenma’s hip. 

But Kenma never said anything. 

Kuro was the first to bring it up, first to notice that the black and yellow cat on his hip might mean Kenma, first to ask to see Kenma’s mark in return. 

Kenma refused until middle school, after a long day of playing volleyball together. Volleyball wasn’t bad, but it was so much effort. Kuro was basically his only friend, though, so Kenma continued to show up to volleyball practice, putting in the minimum effort but still playing all the same. 

“Hey, that looks…like me, it looks like me!” Kuro exclaimed when Kenma finally showed his mark, in his first year of middle school and Kuro’s second. “That’s kind of perfect, since we’re best friends anyway. I kind of hoped it was you.”

Kenma steeled himself for what he was about to say.

“I don’t love you. At least, not the way you love me.”

Even though he tried to cover it up, Kuro clearly was crestfallen. 

“You’re not going to stop being my friend, are you?”

“Why would I stop being your friend?”

Sometimes, Kenma wondered if it was fair. He and Kuro were close, as most childhood friends who survived until middle school were. Sharing a bed, casual touches, even Kenma plopping down in Kuro’s lap to play video games, none of it was out of the ordinary. 

But maybe…it meant more to Kuro than it meant to Kenma. And maybe it was unfair that Kenma was pretending they weren’t soulmates. Maybe it was hurting Kuro. 

Maybe Kenma didn’t love him, didn’t want to date him, but he didn’t want to hurt him. 

***

Kenma tried to be less careless with how he acted around Kuro. He stopped sitting in Kuro’s lap, stopped leaning on Kuro’s shoulder on the train. It was…weird, to say the least. He was always concerned about how he looked and acted around others, but that had never applied to  _ Kuro _ .

Kuro was the first to bring it up. 

“I thought you said you weren’t going to stop being my friend,” he complained after about a week of the treatment. Kenma had, once again, refused to lean on his shoulder on the train home from school. 

“I’m not,” Kenma said. He was still Kuro’s friend. Wasn’t he?

“You’re acting all weird around me, like you don’t want me around,” Kuro replied. “If you want me to leave, you could just say it.”

“I don’t want you to leave,” Kenma said. “But you…you love me, right? And it’s not fair…”

“Maybe let me decide what’s fair or not for me?” Kuro suggested. “We’ve been friends for a long time, we’ve acted like this for a long time. Don’t change now because you think it’s unfair to me.”

So the casual touches were back. Kenma could almost pretend nothing had changed. Maybe nothing had. Kuro didn’t seem that upset. He didn’t seem different at all, no matter how much attention Kenma paid to his reactions. 

Was Kuro really okay being just friends even though they were soulmates?

***

Things started to change when Kuro went to high school a year before Kenma. There was never any doubt that Kenma would go to the same high school, for convenience more than anything else, but it was different without Kuro by his side every single day. 

Kuro still came over after volleyball practice and on the weekends, dragging Kenma from the comfortable slouch he’d worked himself into to play video games. Kuro was full of stories about high school, from his volleyball team to his classes to the short libero that Kuro couldn’t stand. 

And then Kuro came home talking about a girlfriend. 

It wasn’t that unusual for people to date in high school, even if they weren’t soulmates. Plenty of people did. 

Kenma just hadn’t expected Kuro to. 

Nothing had changed between them since Kuro had figured out they were soulmates, since he had implied that he loved Kenma. Kenma had assumed that Kuro still loved him. Maybe he was wrong. Maybe he’d always been wrong. 

Kuro brought the girl, Tamano Rin, home a few times. He introduced her to his parents and Kenma. She had long dark hair, sparkling brown eyes, and she was even shorter than Kenma. 

Kenma couldn’t stand her. 

She was always giggling in this high pitched laugh that sounded fake. She was always hanging off Kuro, practically swinging from his arm. Everything about her seemed forced and fake, at least to Kenma. Kuro didn’t seem to see it that way. He seemed to be genuinely happy in her presence. 

Kenma pretended he didn’t hate Tamano Rin. Mostly, he did this by avoiding both her and conversation about her. After all, he didn’t have much right to dictate who Kuro could and couldn’t date. 

Kenma sometimes wondered if he would date anyone, ever. There wasn’t anybody he was interested in, nobody he could even  _ imagine  _ being interested in. All the romance he saw on TV, the flowers, the kisses, the walks in the park, the chocolates…it all seemed so bothersome. Kenma wasn’t sure why anybody would do that. 

But Kuro seemed happy enough spending his weekends walking around with Tamano, listening to her chatter away like the world’s most annoying bird. If Kuro was a cat, Kenma wondered how he could resist eating a bird like that. 

***

Maybe Kenma wasn’t as good at hiding himself from the world as he thought he was, because his mom noticed what was going on even if Kuro didn’t. 

“You really don’t like this girlfriend of Tetsurou’s, do you?” she asked gently one day, not long before Kenma would be going to Nekoma. Kenma hunkered down and focused on his video game. 

“She’s annoying.”

“Oh? What about her is annoying?”

Sometimes Kenma wished his mother would let things drop. 

“She’s always twittering around, like a bird. It’s annoying.”

“Are you sure you’re not just annoyed because you’re jealous?”

Kenma finally looked up from his game to see his mother smiling gently at him. 

“I’m not in love with Kuro.”

“He’s your soulmate, sweetie. And there are different kinds of love,” she said. 

“But I’m not in love with him.”

“Okay, but think about this. If you’re jealous of his girlfriend now, how would you feel if he wasn’t in your life anymore?”

At least she finally let it drop. 

Kenma couldn’t get his mother’s words out of his head, though.  _ How would he feel if Kuro wasn’t in his life anymore?  _ He tried to picture it, tried to imagine Kuro going off to university, meeting a girl, settling down and getting married. Tried to imagine Kuro becoming a “we haven’t seen each other in months” kind of friend, where they slowly lost contact with each other as they lived their own lives. 

Kenma never wanted to live in that world. 

Then he tried to imagine being in Kuro’s life, being just his best friend forever. Kuro would still eventually settle down with a wife and maybe kids. He was a person too full of love to be alone forever, his relationship with Tamano proved that. 

Kenma tried to imagine going to Kuro’s wedding, watching Kuro declare vows of love to a faceless woman, kissing her…

He felt sick to his stomach. 

Okay, so maybe his mother was right. Maybe he was jealous. Did that mean he was in love with Kuro?

He tried to think about dating anyone else. He wasn’t interested in boys, girls even less so, even romantically. He just wanted…

He wanted Kuro to show up at his door with apple pie, like he sometimes did when his mom made too much. He wanted to sit on Kuro’s lap on the days when the world was too much because it felt like Kuro was shielding his back. He wanted Kuro to come in and drag him outside to play volleyball. He wanted to play on the same team as Kuro again. He wanted Kuro to pay attention to him, not some twittering little bird of a girl. 

Was that love?

_ There are different kinds of love. _

Kenma tried to imagine dating Kuro. Kuro didn’t like sweets that much, so he probably wouldn’t want chocolate, and he already brought Kenma apple pie sometimes. They didn’t go for walks in the park, but they practiced volleyball in the park all the time, which seemed even better to Kenma even if it was exhausting. Kenma sat in Kuro’s lap sometimes, and sometimes they held hands like they did when they were children, although this was more so Kuro could keep Kenma from getting lost. Sometimes Kuro would even put his hand on Kenma’s shoulders, using it to guide Kenma away from dangers when he refused to look up from his game. 

Okay. That wasn’t so bad. That sounded like dating stuff, and most of it was stuff he and Kuro already did. 

Now he tried to imagine other things. He tried to imagine kissing Kuro, pressing his lips against Kuro’s. It…didn’t sound that bad. Kenma thought he could probably like it, although he probably wouldn’t know until he tried. 

He tried to imagine going farther, tried to draw on his knowledge from ero games, tried to imagine wandering hands, and…

Nope. Those were thoughts for another day. 

Kenma rolled over in his bed, the thoughts that had been bouncing around in his head all day finally quieting down to one conclusion. 

He was in love with Kuro. 

Maybe it still wasn’t the way Kuro was in love with him, if Kuro was in love with him at all. Kenma had no proof that Kuro had ever been in love with him. But Kenma loved Kuro; that he was certain of. 

Now, what was he supposed to do about it? Kuro was still dating Tamano. That hadn’t changed, even if maybe Kenma had. Maybe he hadn’t changed at all, just realized what had been there the whole time. 

Kenma pressed his hands to his mouth, because for some reason he suddenly felt like sobbing. If Kuro had really loved him when they were children, was this how he’d felt when Kenma told him he didn’t love him? This was horrible. 

Kenma didn’t say anything. What was there to say, really? Kuro was still dating Tamano happily enough. It was almost time to go to high school, where Kenma would surely see the two of them together all the time. That was going to hurt, definitely. 

Because Kenma was definitely jealous. 

***

High school at Nekoma started smoothly enough. Kenma joined the volleyball team, and almost quit immediately because of how the third years treated him. Kuro begged him to stay, though, and Kenma could see the plans forming in his eyes, plans to dominate at nationals. For whatever reason, those plans involved Kenma. 

Kenma nodded. And he stayed. 

The third years might have been terrible, but the second years and Kenma’s fellow first years were okay. They gathered together to eat lunch together. 

That was when Kenma started to notice things. 

Kuro always ate with them, never with Tamano. He was always with Yaku and Kai, if not with the first years as well, never with his supposed girlfriend. Kenma hadn’t even seen her since setting foot in Nekoma High. 

He finally asked Kuro about it one day. 

“Doesn’t it bother Tamano that you never eat lunch with her?”

“Tamano? Why would it bother me?” Kuro looked confused. 

“Isn’t she your girlfriend?” Kenma was starting to feel a little stupid and kind of wished he’d never brought it up. He didn’t usually feel this awkward around Kuro. 

“No, we…we broke up. Didn’t I tell you?” Kuro looked genuinely apologetic. 

“You never mentioned it.”

“Maybe…it wasn’t worth mentioning. After all, it wasn’t anything dramatic. We just kind of…fell apart? I spent too much time practicing volleyball and hanging out with you, apparently. I didn’t really want to stay in a relationship if she didn’t want me to hang out with my best friend.”

Kenma was quiet, trying to process. Kuro wasn’t dating Tamano. It sounded like he hadn’t been dating her for a while. Kuro was single. 

Kenma tried to ignore the way his heart jumped at that. How had he really missed the way he loved Kuro? He loved Kuro as a friend, sure, as his best friend. But somehow, there was a little romantic love mixed in there too, and maybe had been for some time. How had Kenma missed that?

It was hard to think about. It was much easier to let things stay how they were. Kuro still came over on the weekends, still brought apple pie with him sometimes, still let Kenma sit in his lap and shielded him from the world when the world was too much. That was easy. 

It was on one of those days that Kenma decided that maybe, even if changing things was harder, it might be worth it. He was sheltered in Kuro’s lap, staring at his PSP, Kuro’s arms around his waist. He beat a level, and sighed. It was time to do something, anything.

He twisted so his legs were sideways across Kuro’s, so their eyes could meet. Kuro looked at him curiously. Kenma remembered thinking that maybe he would like kissing Kuro, but he wouldn’t know unless he tried. 

“Hey,” he said quietly, a little breathlessly. “Is it okay if I kiss you?”

Kuro’s eyes blinked wide. 

“Is it okay if you what?”

“If I kiss you.” Kenma was quickly losing his nerve, but he’d already put it out there, and he might as well see it through. 

“Um, yeah that’s…that’s fine. You’re just curious, right?” Kuro asked nervously. Kenma hummed, because Kuro wasn’t wrong, but he wasn’t curious for the reasons Kuro was probably thinking. 

He leaned in and pressed his lips to Kuro’s. It was…strangely nice. Kenma lips felt tingly, but Kuro was warm, pressing against him gently, and that was nice. Kenma pulled back, seeing a blush across Kuro’s face. There was probably a matching one on his own. 

“So?” Kuro asked. It was more of a wheeze, and definitely should  _ not _ have been endearing. 

“That was nice,” Kenma admitted. 

“So you do like kissing,” Kuro said. He laughed a little. 

“I like kissing you,” Kenma replied. He felt a little bolder now. “I…I think I love you. Maybe still not exactly the same way you love me, but I definitely love you. And…would maybe be up for more kissing. If you’re okay with that.”

“If I’m…? Why wouldn’t I be okay with that?” Kuro asked, pulling Kenma into a hug. If it was anyone else, this would feel constricting, but Kuro just felt warm. Comforting. 

Things were easier after that. Easier, of course, because almost nothing changed, except now Kenma wasn’t worrying about it and sometimes Kuro would press a kiss to his cheek when they walked home together. It was nice, in it’s way. 

Their mothers were ecstatic when they announced they were dating, particularly Kuro’s mother because “Kenma’s too good for you, kid, nice work!”

Kenma’s mother just gave him a small smile, letting him know she was proud of him for figuring himself out. 

***

In the beginning of their second year, Kenma had his first wet dream. It was about Kuro. That made him start thinking again. He’d already decided that grey-romantic probably described him, with the way that he couldn’t imagine loving anyone but Kuro and the way he loved Kuro that was mostly platonic anyway. He’d been toying with the idea of being asexual, worrying about having to bring that up to Kuro someday, but maybe he needed to revise that idea too. 

After some research, he decided that grey-asexual was probably the best term for him. It wasn’t often he felt sexual attraction to Kuro, just occasional wet dreams and occasionally wanting Kuro to kiss him and touch him less gently. But it was still there, and it was something Kenma would have to deal with eventually. They were still young, though, and Kenma had plenty of time to deal with it. 

“You two are really joined at the hip,” Kenma’s mother commented one day as Kuro showed up to take Kenma to school. Kenma looked at her questioningly. “You know, it means you almost never see one of you without the other. Joined at the hip.”

Kenma glanced down to his left hip at the same time Kuro glanced down to his right. They looked at each other before Kuro’s face split into that grin of his. 

“Come on. We’ve got to get to school,” Kenma grumbled. 

“Tell Kuroo-san I said hello,” Kenma’s mother called after them.

“I’ll tell Mom you said hi,” Kuro promised, waving over his shoulder. 

And everything was okay. Kenma and Kuro were happy, and it was okay. It didn’t matter that the way Kenma loved Kuro wasn’t exactly the same as the way Kuro loved Kenma, because there were different types of love, yes, but it didn’t make one better than another. 

And Kenma loved Kuro, loved his best friend. 

**Author's Note:**

> My tumblr: [@musicprincess655](http://musicprincess655.tumblr.com/)


End file.
